Pandemic transcendent, Olympic Opening Ceremony

Olympic rings on the day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Opening Ceremony. Photo: Erik Zünder

TOKYO, Japan. — In an attempt to, in earnest, write no Olympic spoiler alerts, the global time zone dance broadcasts have begun. 

 With pomp but circumstance, as viewed live on tv in the American morning, the stupendous stories heard every two years during the Parade of Nations in the Opening Ceremony prevail.

From the athlete who had never heard of the Olympic Games until 2016, saw it and thought, “Hey, I can do that.” To the nation which is located within all four hemispheres. To the IOC Refugee Team representing multiple nations and competing under one flag. To the, wait for it, United States delegation chanting “USA, USA, USA.”

That chant is usually a job performed spontaneously by athletes’ fans, friends and family, however, with the seats empty, the athletes took it upon themselves, vicariously carrying the torch for the ones who couldn’t be there. US first lady Dr. Jill Biden was among the sparse spectators due to COVID-19 protocols.

Masks were a required part of the uniforms. They matched the traditional garb of the respective countries. Covering their mouth and nose not allowing the athletes to show their smiles didn’t subdue the obvious energy, emotion and excitement palpable in their eyes.

Nation groups socially distanced from each other. 

Eddie Alvarez had been voted by his Team USA teammates to be a co-flag-bearer. Competing in Tokyo in baseball, Alvarez is no stranger to the winter Olympic community of Utah. He trained and competed for years in Salt Lake City winning a silver medal in Sochi 2014 in speed skating. He was miced-up in the Tokyo Opening Ceremony and said to the NBC commentators, “This is absolutely incredible. I’m freaking out a little bit. I’m feeling the energy from my teammates.” His parents in their home back in the United States waved into the cameras set up for all to watch them watch their son.

As per usual, the host nation takes to the world’s stage to theatrically, with ingenuity, sincerity and comedy, showcase its theirstory, its history, its herstory, its happiness its helpfulness and its hopefulness. The youth of the nation, the able-bodied and the alter-abled alike along with the cultural constructs take center stage. 

As it is, in the end, a caldron is ignited along with the curiosity, quest and culmination of a worldwide Herculean effort. The Olympic Flame accomplished inviting the world, slowly and fastidiously, to this moment.

Via official speeches from officials, it is revealed that the generations-old Olympic motto of Faster Higher Stronger has, this Olympic cycle, by this Olympic Family, been evolved into Faster Stronger Higher Together.

By all means, watch tonight’s rebroadcast on the networks of NBC in primetime as the Opening Ceremony remains the gold-standard tear-jerker to which you’ve become accustomed, perhaps, this year, just for more widespread reasons.